| Literature DB >> 35321018 |
Michael E O'Callaghan1,2, Manzar Abbas3, Jim Buckley3,4, Brian Fitzgerald3, Kevin Johnson5, John Laffey6, Bairbre McNicholas6, Bashar Nuseibeh3, Derek O'Keeffe6, Sarah Beecham3, Abdul Razzaq3, Kaavya Rekanar3, Ita Richardson3,4, Andrew Simpkin7, James O'Connell7, Cristiano Storni4, Damyanka Tsvyatkova3, Jane Walsh8, Thomas Welsh3, Liam G Glynn1,9.
Abstract
Objective: This study aims to gather public opinion on the Irish "COVID Tracker" digital contact tracing (DCT) App, with particular focus on App usage, usability, usefulness, technological issues encountered, and potential changes to the App.Entities:
Keywords: COVID-19; contact tracing; mHealth; public health; software applications
Year: 2022 PMID: 35321018 PMCID: PMC8935577 DOI: 10.1177/20552076221085065
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Digit Health ISSN: 2055-2076
Respondent characteristics (n = 2889).
| Gender | Education | Age range | COVID-19 related worry | Risk group | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 2697 | (93%) | Primary/none | 13 | (0%) | 18–29 years | 829 | (29%) | Very worried | 1471 | (11%) | Very high | 68 | (2%) |
| Male | 191 | (7%) | Secondary | 253 | (9%) | 30–41 years | 1311 | (45%) | Moderately worried | 1268 | (57%) | High | 397 | (14%) |
| - | 1 | (0%) | Tertiary | 2590 | (90%) | 42–53 years | 496 | (17%) | Not very worried | 122 | (26%) | Low/medium | 2347 | (81%) |
| - | 33 | (1%) | 54–65 years | 218 | (8%) | Not at all worried | 22 | (6%) | I'm not sure | 71 | (2%) | |||
| 66 years plus | 28 | (1%) | I'm not sure | 6 | (0%) | - | 6 | (0%) | ||||||
| - | 7 | (0%) | ||||||||||||
| Total | 2889 | 2889 | 2889 | 2889 | 2889 | |||||||||
Respondent App usage.
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| Stopped using the App | 188 | (7%) | Privacy concern | 49 | (2%) |
| Stopped using the App due to Battery concerns | 116 | (4%) | Health service distrust | 32 | (1%) |
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| Technology company distrust | 26 | (1%) |
| App not useful | 23 | (1%) |
Respondent opinions on App usability/performance.
| “Please select the option below that best describes how you feel about the following statements:” | Strongly agree | Somewhat agree | Neutral | Somewhat disagree | Strongly disagree | Skip | Users | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The App was easy to download and get started | 2095 | (76%) | 318 | (12%) | 45 | (2%) | 18 | (1%) | 84 | (3%) | 181 | (7%) | 2741 | ||
| The App is easy to use | 1845 | (67%) | 529 | (19%) | 89 | (3%) | 30 | (1%) | 67 | (2%) | 181 | (7%) | 2741 | ||
| The App looks professional and of high quality | 1445 | (53%) | 805 | (29%) | 187 | (7%) | 64 | (2%) | 59 | (2%) | 181 | (7%) | 2741 | ||
| The App has slowed down my phone's performance | 150 | (5%) | 465 | (17%) | 750 | (27%) | 352 | (13%) | 843 | (31%) | 181 | (7%) | 2741 | ||
| The App causes my phone's battery to deplete quickly | 250 | (9%) | 507 | (18%) | 655 | (24%) | 377 | (14%) | 771 | (28%) | 181 | (7%) | 2741 | ||
Responses relating to App functionality.
| Is the main function of the HSE COVID Tracker App clear? | So what do you feel the MAIN function of the App is? | Do you think it is useful to have the latest Irish COVID-19 data available on the App? | Do you think it is useful to be able to tell the App/the HSE if you are feeling unwell? | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 2333 | (81%) | To help with Contact Tracing | 2293 | (79%) | Yes | 2504 | (87%) | Yes | 1502 | (52%) |
| I'm not sure | 204 | (7%) | The main function of the App is not clear | 352 | (12%) | I'm not sure | 107 | (4%) | I'm not sure | 661 | (23%) |
| No | 352 | (12%) | To give people information on COVID-19 trends | 154 | (5%) | No | 62 | (2%) | No | 495 | (17%) |
| To allow people to upload symptoms | 67 | (2%) | Skip | 216 | (7%) | Skip | 231 | (8%) | |||
| I'm not sure, skip this question | 23 | (1%) | |||||||||
| Total | 2889 | Total | 2889 | Total | 2889 | Total | 2889 | ||||
Respondent demographics, COVID-related worry, and self-reported risk versus opinion on whether the App is helping the national response to COVID-19.
| “In your opinion, is the COVID Tracker App helping our national response to COVID-19?” | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | I'm not sure | No | ||||||
| Total | 1265 | (44%) | 1089 | (38%) | 535 | (19%) | ||
| Gender | Female | 1154 | (43%) | 1029 | (38%) | 514 | (19%) | |
| Male | 111 | (58%) | 59 | (31%) | 21 | (11%) | ||
| Prefer not to say | 0 | - | 1 | (100%) | 0 | - | ||
| Age range | 18–29 years | 311 | (38%) | 304 | (37%) | 214 | (26%) | |
| 30–41 years | 565 | (43%) | 509 | (39%) | 237 | (18%) | ||
| 42–53 years | 242 | (49%) | 188 | (38%) | 66 | (13%) | ||
| 54–65 years | 130 | (60%) | 75 | (34%) | 13 | (6%) | ||
| 66 years plus | 15 | (54%) | 11 | (39%) | 2 | (7%) | ||
| Undisclosed | 2 | (29%) | 2 | (29%) | 3 | (43%) | ||
| COVID-19-related worry | Very worried | 684 | (46%) | 525 | (36%) | 262 | (18%) | |
| Moderately worried | 543 | (43%) | 517 | (41%) | 208 | (16%) | ||
| Not very worried | 32 | (26%) | 39 | (32%) | 51 | (42%) | ||
| Not at all worried | 4 | (18%) | 6 | (27%) | 12 | (55%) | ||
| I'm not sure | 2 | (33%) | 2 | (33%) | 2 | (33%) | ||
| Risk group | Very high | 32 | (47%) | 23 | (34%) | 13 | (19%) | |
| High | 201 | (51%) | 139 | (35%) | 57 | (14%) | ||
| Low or medium | 1008 | (43%) | 888 | (38%) | 451 | (19%) | ||
| I'm not sure | 22 | (31%) | 39 | (55%) | 10 | (14%) | ||
| Undisclosed | 2 | (33%) | 0 | - | 4 | (67%) | ||
Awareness of and responses to technological issues since App launch.
| Issue 1: Older phones | Issue 2: Google location services | Issue 3: Battery drain | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I was aware of this issue | 1728 | (60%) | I was aware of this issue | 1124 | (39%) | I was aware of this issue | 1823 | (63%) |
| I was not aware of this issue | 1161 | (40%) | I was not aware of this issue | 1765 | (61%) | I was not aware of this issue | 1066 | (37%) |
| Total | 2889 | Total | 2889 | Total | 2889 | |||
| Issue 1: Response | Issue 2: Response | Issue 3: Response | ||||||
| I downloaded the App | 1180 | (68%) | I downloaded the App | 800 | (71%) | I kept the App on my phone | 1050 | (58%) |
| Not applicable (skip) | 510 | (30%) | I deleted the App (temporarily) | 36 | (3%) | I deleted the App (temporarily) | 306 | (17%) |
| I did not download the App | 38 | (2%) | I deleted the App (permanently) | 24 | (2%) | I deleted the App (permanently) | 100 | (5%) |
| Subtotal | 1728 | I did not download the App | 15 | (1%) | I did not download the App | 38 | (2%) | |
| Not applicable (skip) | 249 | (22%) | Not applicable (skip) | 329 | (18%) | |||
| Subtotal | 1124 | Subtotal | 1823 | |||||
Respondent opinions on changes to how a) the App presents information and b) users might be able to enter more information into the App.
| a) “Are there any changes to how the App presents information you would like to see?” | b) “Are there any changes to how you enter data into the App that you would like to see implemented?” | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I would like the App to have more information about COVID-19 trends in my local area | 2284 | (79%) | I would allow the App to know if I had been tested for COVID-19 recently if it helped public health teams | 2207 | (76%) |
| I would like the App to tell me how many other people with the App I've been in close contact with recently | 1598 | (55%) | I would allow the App to know my Age if it helped public health teams | 1830 | (63%) |
| I would like the App to give more up-to-date information on COVID-19 in Ireland | 1179 | (41%) | I would allow the App to know my recent Location data if it helped public health teams | 1674 | (58%) |
| No I don't think these ideas/changes would be useful | 99 | (3%) | I would allow the App to know my Ethnicity if it helped public health teams | 1418 | (49%) |
| No I don't think these ideas/changes would be useful | 198 | (7%) | |||